New Month, New Goals

Sitting in my Weight Watchers meeting Saturday morning, I realized that something. I am not alone. Many of us fall off the wagon, stop tracking, lose any mojo they once posessed. I'm human, I make mistakes, I get injured, I get sidetracked. The beginning of a month is a perfect time to begin fresh.

A friend of mine recently celebrated 14 pounds down since she got herself back on track. I mentioned to her that I've been bouncing a few pounds around my 10%. The goal that I reached MONTHS ago. What is my deal? I am within 11 pounds of the Weight Watchers upper level goal range.  And what do I do? I pretty much stop tracking for a month. I am sabotaging myself for no good reason. Reaching a goal doesn't mean the work on what I eat and drink stops, I won't miraculously become a single digit size (though that would be awesome), and it doesn't mean that the training stops.

So, in the spirit of my fresh start, I am doing something I rarely do. I am posting my weight. No more  hiding. I need to make myself accountable. (Sorry for the sideways picture, I really am an amateur when it comes to blog formating. And yes, the red line on the top of my left foot is the scar left from my "incident" last month.) I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, I need to stay focused on me and my health, get back to tracking, meal planning, and making good choices that support my goal.

September has started out really well. Had a productive day Saturday(helping the local economy). I ordered a new pair of glasses and a pair of prescription sunglasses. We also got a new weedeater/trimmer. I'll admit it, I'm a dork. Sunday morning was Reunion with Communion at church. Four former members of our praise band who'd moved away in the last couple of years, returned for a reunion.The music was outstanding and moving. I cried when the former guitar player sang "You Lift Me Up." Our former pastor, who retired last summer, and his wife were there as well. I looked around during the greetings and remarked to the woman next to me that "this is the church I joined." The spirit in church was amazing. I need to keep that feeling within me.

Yesterday I had the option of working or not. I chose not, at least for my job. But work, I did, earing about 10 Weight Watchers activity points in the process. Bright and early, so as to avoid some of the heat, I headed to the community garden. I hauled up 4 large bags of organic soil, 2 large bags of soil conditioner, and 2 smaller bags of manure up to the garden (which is at the top of a small hill) so that I could work on my bed. Bermuda grass was pulled, swiss chard that I planted a year and a half ago was (finally) pulled, spent tomato plants were chopped down, soil and manure was spread, plant waste chopped up and hauled off to the dumpster, and my sweet potatoes were watered. Two hours later, I returned home, parched, tired, sweaty, and covered in dirt.  Labor accomplished, relaxation earned.

I hope y'all have had a wonderful and safe summer. I look forward to seeing you at Fitbloggin in a few weeks. September is going to be a great month! :)

New Gadget

I was invited to a Pampered Chef party recently by a woman from church. It was my first one, and I didn't quite know what to expect, so I went online to see what kind of products they have. One thing that caught my eye was the microwave chip maker. I like crunchy, snacky things, but not the fat and calories that many crunchy, snacky things have.

Yesterday morning, before work, I pulled out the mandoline that The Aussie gave me for a birthday present a couple of years ago. I have had so little success with it, but I watched a video recently to try and figure out how to use it. Success! I managed to make thin slices of sweet potato with the mandoline. I placed them on the trays and started microwaving. The guidelines say 3 minutes, but it took about double that time. Maybe my slices are thicker than they recommend, but I wanted crisper chips.

Voila! This is actually both trays worth of slices (minus a couple I ate), so they really shrink down a lot. These weren't seasoned, but you could make them spicy, sweet, whatever you like.  Hello little crunchy, snacky things... I think I'll be planting sweet potatoes this summer at the community garden. I don't want to run out.

 

Aftermath of the storm

Last night I headed up to the community garden to survey the damage. Below is an example of what was coming down in the yard on Tuesday afternoon. It sounded like a meteor shower hitting the house. A very loud meteor shower. The extent of our damage, at least that we've discovered so far, is a broken window in my husband's work room upstairs. That'll be fun to fix.

This little tomato got clobbered. It was the worst of the six I planted this weekend. Poor thing. I'll be taking it out and planting a new one. The others weren't happy, but they were still standing.
The potatoes came through nicely. I need to buy more compost to top up my rows.
Part one of my Three Sisters faired well. This is the corn, that was planted a couple of weeks ago. Last weekend I planted the beans. They haven't sprouted yet. No picture of the swiss chard. There's a bit of hail damage to the chard, but it won't make it taste any less yummy.

Eat Your Greens

This is the first year I've grown swiss chard in my garden, and to say it's done well would be an understatement. Sauteing anything with garlic and olive oil is going to be great, but you can get tired of it if you have a LOT of swiss chard to use. I recently picked up a copy of Fine Cooking's Cook Fresh magazine. There was a recipe for escarole with pine nuts, raisins and capers that sounded interesting. I didn't have any escarole, but I had lots of swiss chard!

Swiss Chard with Pine Nuts, Raisins and Capers

1 large bunch of swiss chard
3 cloves garlic, pressed
1 1/2 T olive oil, use 1 T w/greens, 1/2 t w/garlic
2 T pine nuts, toasted
handful of raisins
1-2 T capers
1/2 t red pepper flakes
1 t balsamic vinegar
squeeze of lemon or dash of True Lemon

Tear your swiss chard into pieces and rinse really, really well. This is the bowl from my salad spinner. After I remove the pieces of chard to the spinning basket I use the water, which has turned light green, to water my houseplants.

I recently wrote about the folks over at True Lemon sending me a True Citrus test kit to try out. While I actually did have a lemon in the fridge, I wanted to try the True Lemon crystals in this recipe.

Heat up a large pan to medium high heat, I've used my wok, and add 1 t of olive oil. Swirl it around the bottom to coat, and then add your greens. Be careful of splatters when the greens, which will still have a little water on them, hit the hot pan. It will look like a lot, but it really cooks down.

In a separate pan, toast the pine nuts over medium high heat. When they're golden brown, remove from the pan.

I use tongs to turn the greens so that they cook evenly. After about 5 minutes, cover, reduce to medium heat, and let the greens cook down for about 10 minutes.

Add the remaining olive oil to the pan you toasted the pine nuts in. Add in the garlic and lightly brown, making sure you don't burn the garlic. Add in a handful of raisins along with the capers. I used a little of the brine from the capers to help plump up the raisins.

When the swiss chard is done, remove the cover and add in the raisin mixture and the pine nuts. Sprinkle in the red pepper flakes and a splash of balsamic vinegar. Finish it off with either a squeeze of lemon or a few dashes of True Lemon. Enjoy!

Friday Night Recap: Runs With Garden Tools, Plays In Dirt...

When I was younger, my Dad had a huge vegetable garden. I love most vegetables, but wasn't a big fan of gardening. Weeding and picking beans. Ooh. Fun. Funny how things turn out, actually.

Fast forward 30 or so years, and you'll find me playing in the dirt in my plots at our community garden. Aside from the fact that I am part of the group that got this garden off the ground, I'm proud of all we've accomplished in the last two years. This is our second season, and we're already off to an amazing start. Just yesterday, we donated 50 pounds of fresh, organic vegetables to a local foodbank.


This is my first plot. It's our second year together. Digging up potatoes. Fresh potatoes are amazing.

Here's some of my haul. This next is my second plot. It's our first year together.

One of the few vegetables I'm not a fan of: eggplant. I'm growing them for the foodbank. Aren't they pretty?

A zucchini is hiding in here. But I found it! Ooh, pretty. Nothing like digging in the dirt to ruin your hands. I had been wearing gloves, but it was easier to find the potatoes without them.

Heading home. 99 degrees and it's 7pm. Here's the haul of 7 pounds of potatoes! A bunch of these guys will head back to the garden on Saturday morning for harvest and delivery to the foodbank.

Anyone need some herbs? My sage and oregano are taking over the courtyard bed, and my rosemary is taking over the front bed. And yes, that rosemary does span the entire field of this picture. The inner part had to be cut out a year ago after the first bad freeze killed that section of the plant. This rosemary was a birthday present from my sister 5 years ago. It came in a 1 gallon sized container. I'd say rosemary does quite well in North Texas, wouldn't you!?

Now it's time to relax on the patio with a shandy, my kindle and get the grill fired up for dinner. Here's Puppygirl and The Boy in picture 1 and Featherbutt (in the cage), ShortStuff (behind the chair) and Puppygirl in picture 2.

They keep me going...

I was never much of a gardener. I grew up around gardens, my father's vegetable garden and my mother's multitude of flower beds. To me, it was a chore. I had to weed. I had to pick green beans and zucchini. Heaven forbid. I was lucky enough to have access to fresh vegetables like those my father grew. He had an amazing vegetable garden. One that I wish I had. The carrots and beets in the picture above came from seed. Last February. Go figure. I planted them then, they got harvested today. And I have to tell you, I had wire domes covering the carrots to keep the bunnies out of them. I'd find bunny pellets surrounding the domes, any greens growing outside the domes sheared down. (I think the bunnies were practicing their telekenesis skills on those domes) These are the little carrots that could... I'm not a great gardener, but at least I'm trying.

Last year, the pastor of my church gave a sermon about how great it would be if we could use some of the property owned by the church to start a community garden that would help feed those in need. Some days I don't know what I was thinking, going to those first planning meetings, but I'm so proud of where we've come. To date, we've harvested almost 400 pounds of produce that was donated to a local food pantry and to the church's food share program. We're growing organic produce for the hungry and for our families, and that really makes it all worthwhile. And yes, organic, local, fresh produce is good for you and tastes like nothing other. Would I have stepped up, knowing what would be required of me to see this project come to fruition? I don't know. But I did. The garden, and all it stands for, helps keep me going.

This second picture is of another thing that helps keep me going. In the first few months of our first year here in TX we adopted a wonderful Puppygirl. She had a REALLY awful first few years of her life. She's slow to trust, spooks easily, and is very skittish around strangers and cameras. I can rarely get a decent picture of her. The only reason I got this picture of her today is because she was wondering what I was carrying in the colander (see above) when I came in from outside. I had the camera in one hand and *snap* I got a picture of her with a smile on her face. Her smile is something few people outside of her family and comfortable friends group will ever see. I have to be honest. She is one of the loves of my life. She is an amazing, sweet, loving girl. (So is Shortstuff, my Sous Chef, next to her, don't get me wrong. She's our meet and greet committee who loves nearly everyone.) I love my furry kids. They make my heart smile.

What makes your heart smile and keeps you going?